faro

It’s an endearing thought that the lyrics of one of the world’s most popular songs came to mind during a car journey between Lisbon and the Algarve.

Nestling a few kilometres inland from the Algarve‘s rugged west coast, Aljezur is an attractive little place of striking white houses and red roofs, surrounded by oak woods and fields emblazoned with wild flowers.

It’s easy to see why the Algarve has become such a popular holiday destination over the past 30 years or so. Mile upon mile of superb golden beaches stretch along Portugal’s southern tip – and they really are golden, powdered down … Read more

Since the 1970s, the picturesque fishing town of Albufeira in the central coastal region has been the undisputed tourist capital of the Algarve, in winter as well as summer.

Faro, the sunshine capital of the Algarve, has metamorphosed into a major tourism hub in recent years, and not just in the high season.

Roughly rectangular in shape and with a population of around ten million people, Portugal has much to offer the modern visitor – young and old alike.

Surrounded by green fields studded with almond trees, the photogenic town of Tavira is one of the most attractive places in the Eastern Algarve.

A few steps away from the city’s pedestrianised shopping areas, wide boulevards and urban parks, Faro’s original walls still stand proud, and within them lies a peaceful world of ancient stone buildings, many of which have been restored to their … Read more

After the region’s gateway city of Faro, Portimão is the most important commercial centre in the Algarve and the main hub for the region’s thriving sardine-canning, leisure cruising and big-game fishing industries.

A couple of miles off the Faro coast in the Algarve lies one of the most enchanting and singularly beautiful beach destinations in the whole of southern Portugal, an unoccupied spit of sand officially called the Ilha da Barreta but known more affectionately by locals as the Ilha Deserta … Read more